Rain gutters are provided on virtually every structure to catch rain runoff from the structure's roof. Generally, gutters are open troughs provided along the edge of the roof of the structure such that they catch the surface water runoff from the roof. Gutters are generally connected to a fascia board under the edge of the roof with downspouts connected to low points of the gutter to collect and carry away the roof water runoff and direct it away from the structure.
Rain gutters are generally U-shaped with a rear vertical wall, a bottom horizontal base, and a front substantially vertical wall. A common problem with gutters so formed that are left open is that, in addition to the rainwater runoff that they are intended to collect, they will collect undesirable wind-blown and runoff debris, including leaves and bits of broken shingles coming from the roof. This collection of leaves and other debris within a gutter quickly leads to gutter and downspout clogging, causing water collected in the trough to overflow. Removal of the debris and leaves is necessary to stop the overflowing, and has become a regular maintenance chore for many property owners.
A number of prior art arrangements have been developed to eliminate the necessity of cleaning gutters to prevent blockage by leaves and debris. A number of prior art devices and methods used a screen or mesh material installed on top of the gutter trough. The nature of the screen or mesh is that it is porous to allow water to pass through into the gutter trough while still preventing leaves and other debris from entering the gutter.
Another approach that has been developed to block the entry into gutters of leaves and debris is a cover that overlies the gutter top opening. The cover is intended to serve as a deflector of leaves and other debris so that they either are blown off the cover by the wind, or they fall over the front edge of the gutter while allowing the rain water to flow over the outer edge of the cover and into the gutter for collection and disposal. Although several approaches to configuring and supporting a gutter cover have been disclosed, those approaches are cumbersome and time consuming from an installation standpoint, are costly in terms of amount of attachment materials needed, and are not particularly rigid in terms of the rigidity of the overall gutter structure or the rigidity of its attachment to a building surface.
Some of the prior art solutions to prevent gutter clogging by leaves and debris provide a solid cover that overlies the gutter top opening. In those arrangements, the gutter cover acts as a hood preventing leaves and other debris from entering the gutter. A number of gutter trough and hood arrangements have been successful, although not without problems and disadvantages. In general, the prior art covered gutter arrangements were complicated and labor intensive to install, because support members or brackets were required to secure and support the end caps, the end caps being provided at the ends of the trough to prevent any water from escaping out the end of the trough. In prior art devices, the end caps have been attached to the trough through various methods. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,117,642 and 7,117,643, for example, an arrangement is provided wherein a covered gutter trough is provided with an end plate that screws into a bracket that is positioned within the trough to maintain separation between the trough and cover. These patented arrangements are disadvantageous because they require brackets near the end plates, a separate right or left end plate is required for the two ends of the trough, and there is no welded or mechanical connections between the end plates and the gutter. The connection to an adjacent bracket is only good and reliable as the bracket being mounted in the trough, and the screw connection to the bracket reflected in the '642 and '643 patents itself creates a number of problems. Mechanically, the screws and sleeves are frequently stripped, leaving the connections loose and difficult to maintain. In addition, the provision of separate right and left end plates is a problem because frequently parts and products are shipped with the wrong number or mix of right and left end caps, or if one failed there we was no way to use the other end cap. The end caps provided in the prior art patented arrangements were strictly right or left end caps and connected to brackets mounted in the trough. Overtightening or misalignment of the screws holding the end cap to the bracket results in weakened or failed end caps, leading to leakage out of the end of the trough, water flowing out through a damaged end plate instead of into a downspout as desired. In addition, even in those instances in which the end plate is successfully attached to the bracket with screws, it is connected at only two points, and the edge of the gutter trough is butted up against the end cap and there is no mechanical connection between the end caps and the brackets.
There is thus identified a need for a covered gutter system and, in particular for a vertical plate used with a covered gutter system that solves the problems associated with the prior art. It is desirable to provide a vertical plate that does not require screwing to a bracket, that is mechanically connected to the gutter trough, and that has the provisions that it is bi-directional so that a single style can be used as either the left end plate or the right end plate.